“Paintings are created by translating what is conceived in one’s mind onto canvas with hands and brushes. Paintings are mysterious. Embedded within the mystery is the fact that I can never reproduce something I wish to paint, as objects deteriorate as I describe or express them.”
– Soun Hong

Rinne Abrugena, Catalina Africa, Poklong Anading, Benjie Cabangis, Zean Cabangis, Buen Calubayan, Ernest Concepcion, Lizza May David, Mark Andy Garcia, David Griggs, Winner Jumalon, Jonathan Olazo, Indy Paredes, Jaime Roque, Jose Tence Ruiz, Jose Luis Singson, Cris Villanueva Jr. and Jeona Zoleta present paintings as representatives of their respective art practices. This is the first of a series of exhibitions that shall create a platform for critical discussions as an in-depth inquiry into the diversity of artistic practices and approaches within the context of the art scene in Manila.

The reason for the decision of discussing painting in the initial exhibition of the series lies in the immediacy of the presence and predominance of the media in the practice of making and collecting. The artists participating - among others – have been invited due to the approaches to the canvas and the practices of painting. The range of the works includes gestural abstraction, photo-based figuration, semi- representational and naturalistic approaches, assemblage, and conceptual imagery. We, 1335MABINI, are aware that the exhibition is characteristically a survey and cannot represent a holistic impression. However, our intention is to create an open dialog between the entities the scene is built of.

These works are examples in examining how similar the current attitude towards painting is with early 20th century modernist thought: there always seems to be a dichotomy between the intuitive manner of working with paint using purely formalistic means, and a concept-based work that sees painting as a tool to convey and/or express a specific idea usually with an incorporation of other media. In this light, painting has maintained its place as an object with an innately decorative quality, unable to subject itself to a contemporary reading. This is because “data-reality” has dominated our current digital-based culture wherein our society has to conceive itself in a stream of data and no longer in a picture-reality or image-reality. (Richard Kriesche) This understandably confines painting to the realm of aesthetics, greatly detached from the expectations of reality.

More importantly, according to Kriesche, art is now a medium of capitalization, marginalizing the question of the quality of art as having fundamental social relevance. The essence of the creative experience that has for a long time surrounded the definition of art has strayed from the current practice of presenting art in the public domain, not to mention the superficiality of the art market. However, as it is our nature as humans to look for newer forms, and since this can be met with a continuation of the expression of creative vision, painting, and image-making in general, has retained its influence.

Roundtable discussions about painting as a practice (Saturday, 25 July, 1 pm), the art market (Saturday, 25 July, 3 pm) and how to build a career as an artist (Saturday, 1 August, 3 pm) as well as a talk about the Philippine Pavillion at the Venice Biennale 2015 (with Dr. Patrick Flores, Jose Tence Ruiz and Manny Montelibano, Saturday, 1 August, 2015, 1 pm) will take place within the scope of the exhibition.

The duration of the show is from July 18, to August 8, 2015, Tuesday to Saturday, 2 pm to 6 pm and by appointment.